Cordillera Real, also called Cordillera Oriental, major mountain system, the easternmost of the two in Bolivia. It extends generally north-south for about 750 miles (1,200 km) through the length of the country. The Cordillera Real separates the lowlands of the Amazon River basin to the east from the high plateaus of the Altiplano to the west. The Cordillera Real contains within its ranges two characteristic physiographic regions, the Valles, or higher (8,200 to 11,500 feet [2,500 to 3,500 metres]) intermontane valleys, and the Yungas, or lower (3,300 to 6,600 feet [1,000 to 2,000 metres]) valleys. From the massif of Vilcanota in the north to the pass of San Francisco in the south, the main cordillera is composed of six lesser ranges: the Cordillera de La Paz; the Cordillera Tres Cruces; two parallel ranges, the Azanaques (east) and the Frailes (west); the Chichas; and the Lípez, extending southwestward to connect the Cordillera Real with the Cordillera Occidental, Bolivia’s other, more westerly mountain system. The Cordillera de La Paz is the highest portion of the system, with elevations ranging downward from 21,067 feet (6,421 metres) at Illampu. Aymara and Quechua Indian villages are located at the foothills of the Cordillera Real.

Cordillera Real in the Bolivian Andes with Lake Titicaca in the foreground.

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in Bolivia

country of west-central South America. Extending some 950 miles (1,500 km) north-south and 800 miles (1,300 km) east-west, Bolivia is bordered to the north and east by Brazil, to the southeast by Paraguay, to the south by Argentina, to the southwest and west by Chile, and to the northwest by Peru....

...active volcanoes and the spectacular Uyuni Salt Flat; the cordillera is crowned by the republic’s highest peak, Mount Sajama, reaching an elevation of 21,463 feet (6,542 metres). To the east is the Cordillera Oriental, whose spectacular northern section near La Paz is called Cordillera Real (“Royal Range”). An impressive line of snowcapped peaks, some exceeding 20,000 feet (6,100...

...wider, with the widest segment across southern Bolivia. There, the mountain belt consists of two parallel ranges, the Cordillera Occidental (or Western Cordillera) and the Cordillera Oriental (or Eastern Cordillera), which surround the high plateau, the Altiplano.